We are thrilled to announce and welcome new faculty to the MFA Products of Design department, all of whom will begin classes in the Spring 2014 semester!

Abby Covert, who is teaching Thesis II, is an independent information architect working and living in New York City. With a proven track record in establishing user-centric practices in a variety of creative environments, Abby also has a reputation for stellar information architecture work in a variety of consulting contexts. Her diverse portfolio includes work for among others: Staples, Nike, IHOP, Herman Miller, Kraft Foods, Sharpie, JELL-O, Prismacolor, Expo Markers, Valspar, KMART, Taco Bell, KFC, State Farm and The United States Postal Service, BlueCross BlueShield, JSTOR, Fidelity Investments, Bank of America, The Hartford Insurance. Abby prides herself on being an active organizer and mentor within the design community. She served as Executive Producer for the IDEA conference in 2010 and the Information Architecture Summit in 2010 and 2012. She holds a dual degree in Graphic Design and Multimedia from Northeastern University. Abby speaks and writes under the pseudonym Abby the IA, and currently serves as faculty for Parsons, The School of Visual Arts, General Assembly and Hyper Island. She has given guest lectures for NYU, Miami Ad School and the University of Michigan.

Janna Gilbert, who will be teaching the second part of Dynamics and Strategy and Design, is a Client Partner at Luminary Labs where she leads a range of client innovation projects focused on operationalizing innovation, including the design and execution of multi-stage open innovation competitions, organizational design efforts and translating deep customer insights into new opportunities. Janna also runs the Analyst Program at Luminary Labs. Prior to joining Luminary Labs, Janna was an Associate Principal at McKinsey & Company. While at McKinsey, Janna served clients on a variety of topics, focusing on innovation, growth strategy and marketing and sales. While there, she worked with clients to deliver large scale, multi-year global innovation transformation programs, identify new growth opportunities and led the development of client and internal innovation training programs. Prior to joining McKinsey, Janna worked as an analyst for a private equity and corporate development firm, focused on the insurance and risk-related sectors.

Elliott P. Montgomery

, who is teaching the first part of

Dynamics and Strategy and Design,

is a researcher and strategic designer who's work focuses on speculative alternatives at the confluence of developing social, technological and environmental issues. He teaches at Parsons, The New School for Design, and is a co-founder of

, a futuring research initiative. He has practiced as a design consultant for clients such as Autodesk, GE, LG, Honeywell, and Johnson & Johnson, as well as for tech startups and non-profits. His design work has been exhibited internationally, including shows at the Shanghai Power Station of Art and the Biennale du Design in Saint-Etienne France. He is a former design research resident at the US Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency, Energy. He holds an MA in Design Interactions from the Royal College of Art in London and a BA in Industrial Design from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh PA.

As part of SVA Products of Design’s partnership with Veterans Affairs (and held through the Design Research and Integration class taught by IDEO’s Lawrence Abrahamson) , designers Jiani Lin, Alexia Cohen, Teng Yu, William Crum, and Antriksh Nangia used design to examine gender and the military—creating two design proposals aimed at changing the way people “see” women veterans.

Natsuki Hayashi’s master's thesis, titled Sincerely, explores a contemporary design of assisted suicide. Utilizing design to reimagine the way we die, Natsuki pushes the boundaries of the legally, morally, and emotionally appropriate ways to end life.

“We are living in a contemporary world of slow deaths,” writes bioethicist Margaret Battin. Indeed, deaths have specific shapes to them. But with deaths that are predictable, occur later in life, and can be delayed for longer periods of time using advanced medical technology, doctors can do a lot to prolong life—even if it means more suffering for the patients. Today, most doctors have no choice but to help end the lives and suffering of their patients.

This year, the students of the MFA Products of Design took home 2 honors in this year's Core77 Design Awards! The recognized work spanned multiple categories—from Service Design to Design for Social Impact to Strategy and Research. Interaction Design and Service Design to Furniture and Lighting. Check them out below, and click to see the complete projects on Core77!

Huge congratulations to Panisa Khunprasert, who's just-released Geo Stacking Coasters are now featured on the cover of the 2017 MoMA Wholesale Catalog! From the catalog: "These sets of colorful silicone stacking coasters feature varying geometric faceted edges that create visual and tactile appeal. Designed for MoMA’s collaboration with the MFA Products of Design program at the School of Visual Arts, they are playful, decorative and functional.